Why are they preachin to the Choir?

[Agent ONE]

What bugs me the most about hose anti-piracy ads is the way they try to tie ticket sales to the paycheck of set designers and stuntmen and such.

People that are payed a flat rate and get NOTHING from sales.

I realize their intent(no one CARES if big fancy actor guy gets 9.9 mill instead of 10, but someone with a "real" job is someone the audience can empathize with), but I see the ads as little more than badly-formulated lies that serve only to insult my intellect.

Brilliant post my man!

[Commander McBride]

What bugs me the most about hose anti-piracy ads is the way they try to tie ticket sales to the paycheck of set designers and stuntmen and such.

People that are payed a flat rate and get NOTHING from sales.

I realize their intent(no one CARES if big fancy actor guy gets 9.9 mill instead of 10, but someone with a "real" job is someone the audience can empathize with), but I see the ads as little more than badly-formulated lies that serve only to insult my intellect.

Wait just a second. Set Designers and Stuntmen and such are hurt by piracy. Here's how it works:

Movie is made. Movie is pirated. Movie is less profitable. Studio makes less movies. Less jobs are available for production staff.

I know this because my dad is an Art Director. As a direct result of this (combined with the recent trend for making movies outside the US), he has had much less work, and what work he has had, has been lower paying, and often non union (Important because the union requires a certain amount of hours to be worked per year for the health plan to remain active).

Now, I have a theory about that ad. When movies are pirated, the most common method is to "borrow" a flim reel from the theater in the middle of the night. The film is "ripped' to computer, and made into tapes or DVDs. The Trailers and ads are often included in the bootleg product. So the person watching the bootleg will see the anti-piracy ad. Sort of like how they have anti-cable piracy ads on cable.

[Jolly Rogers]

While the bootlegs are of crappy quality, they do deter people from paying their 10 bucks when they find out what a turkey a heavily marketed film actually is.

Most films make their money on opening weekend, before word of mouth can hurt its business significantly. I am pretty sure those who saw pirated versions of, say, Dumb and Dumberer won't bother going to the theater or buying it on DVD after they find out how lousy it turned out to be.

[That NOS Guy]

Honestly, when I go to a movie I've paid my money.

The Public Service ads are one thing, the other ads are what's really annoying lately. Does anyone else remember the time before commercials were on the big screen?

[JB0]

What bugs me the most about hose anti-piracy ads is the way they try to tie ticket sales to the paycheck of set designers and stuntmen and such.

People that are payed a flat rate and get NOTHING from sales.

I realize their intent(no one CARES if big fancy actor guy gets 9.9 mill instead of 10, but someone with a "real" job is someone the audience can empathize with), but I see the ads as little more than badly-formulated lies that serve only to insult my intellect.

Wait just a second. Set Designers and Stuntmen and such are hurt by piracy. Here's how it works:

Movie is made. Movie is pirated. Movie is less profitable. Studio makes less movies. Less jobs are available for production staff.

I undertstand that.

The ads as presented imply that the behind-the-scenes people get an actual cut of the movie profits, that their paycheck is directly, not indirectly, tied to the movie's success.

And I should point out that the evidence is that piracy is actually GOOD for sales. At least, it was for the music industry before they declared war on their consumers. Napster hit, sales went up, RIAA started suing the pants off people that downloaded songs, sales went way way down(and what was their PR department thinking when they sued that little girl? Could they have CHOSEN a worse target?).

Movie piracy currently takes too long to be worth the effort, as far as I'm concerned.

More of the blame for the recent movie slump is placed on instant messenging programs and cellphones than piracy.

Here's how it works:

Person sees movie. Movie sucks. Person calls friends from the parking lot, says "Don't see this movie, it sucks." Friends don't see movie.

In an industry that makes most of it's money in the first week, before word of mouth can spread through traditional means, this is very bad.

The truth is, there's just not much out worth watching recently. I've been looking, and the amount of movies interesting me is just really small.

The last film I actually WANTED to see was, I think, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

...

Which bombed horribly, thanks in part to what I consider incompetent marketing. They really had no idea what to target, the ads just plain sucked, and most of the people that came expected a completely diffrent kind of film(I suspect I was one of about 5 people there on opening night that even knew who Captain Nemo was, much less some of the other characters).

[Nightbat]

*rewinds a bit

8 bucks?!?!?!? ... that's it,.... I'm downloading!!!

(an A-movie here is €10-12,50)

Yeah the blue-collar guys are really feeling the strain of piracy... so stop paying ridiculous amounts

to bad actors!!!!!

[Stamen0083]

The last film I actually WANTED to see was, I think, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

...

Which bombed horribly, thanks in part to what I consider incompetent marketing.  They really had no idea what to target, the ads just plain sucked, and most of the people that came expected a completely diffrent kind of film(I suspect I was one of about 5 people there on opening night that even knew who Captain Nemo was, much less some of the other characters).

I knew who most of those characters were, but that still didn't save the movie.

You can chalk its failure up to incompetent marketing, but I blame it on being a lousy movie in the first place. Frankly, the ads that actually got me excited about the movie did their job, and did it well, given what they had to work with.

Edited March 9, 2004 by Stamen0083

[Akilae]

The last time I saw the anti-piracy ads at the theatre was in NYC, near my university. When the commercial came up, everybody either laughed or giggled, and paid it no heed.

Speaking of which... previews do seem to be taking up more and more time. Heck, with all the Nike and VW commercials, that's almost an extra 20-30 minutes in front of the feature presentaiton.

Reminds me why I liked the university's own theatre: no previews, just movies.

[Blaine23]

I dunno... to be truthful, when is the last time I saw any Public Service Announcement that didn't piss me off?

It's always a very one-sided view of a problem, presented like propaganda, designed solely to invoke emotion... or it's just a lame shot of Bon Jovi on a motorcycle saying "I don't do drugs! Drugs Suck!"

I was truthfully more bothered by the PSA where the child is shown dangerously close to a pool and the voice-over says, "tell her parents you were too busy getting high to watch her..."

That's just awful. You could make the same PSA against damn near anything. "tell her parents you were too busy playing Playstation, going to the bathroom, etc..."

Not that I'm some sort of drug advocator... but can't they just stick to pointing out the facts that show why this is something bad?

The "stop illegal downloading" PSA is basically just a waste of time and money. People that illegally download aren't going to change their tune because of any PSA... that's a fact. All it does is get old people worked up. Just ask my mom.

[Agent ONE]

I think some of you guys are slightly missing what I was trying to convey with this thread.

Of course I hate the ad... I really don't care for anything that doesn't have a bit of the old in-out in-out and a little untra-violence. The iritating part relates to the fact that they show me this crap when I am IN THE MOVIE... I ALREADY PAID!

They should show this crap on tv, they would have a better chance of having more kids who download movies see it.

[Druna Skass]

I've yet to run into those ads, I'm sure I will when I go check out the brutality fest called The Passion of Christ, though I know if Ido see one of those ads I'll have the "do I look like I care" expression plastered on.

[Roy Focker]

Many months ago I was pissed at seeing commericals in the theather too and did a little research. Some guy brought a lawsuit against it. His claim (if I can remember) was that the theather said the movie would start a "blank" o'clock but the commericals actually made the movie start at a later time. Some theathers are now using this thing called "the 20". A 20 minute commerical about all the crap on NBC, TNT and some crappy music service.

[EXO]

Many months ago I was pissed at seeing commericals in the theather too and did a little research. Some guy brought a lawsuit against it. His claim (if I can remember) was that the theather said the movie would start a "blank" o'clock but the commericals actually made the movie start at a later time. Some theathers are now using this thing called "the 20". A 20 minute commerical about all the crap on NBC, TNT and some crappy music service.

I HATE the 20! Not only is it 20 minutes long, but at the end of it all they sum up everything you just saw... who the hell cares?

Why don't they just show the trailers during that time and start the movie when they promised. I already paid thru my nose to get in, why the ads?

And keep babies out of anything PG13 and above! If ya can't get a babysitter, stay the fk home!

[dna]

The last movie I saw in a theater was Episode 1. And no I don't download, that's the last movie that I wanted to see. So I really have no idea what you guysa re all talking about. But I felt the need to post anyway with some useless information.

Thanks.

/spam

[Agent ONE]

Many months ago I was pissed at seeing commericals in the theather too and did a little research. Some guy brought a lawsuit against it. His claim (if I can remember) was that the theather said the movie would start a "blank" o'clock but the commericals actually made the movie start at a later time. Some theathers are now using this thing called "the 20". A 20 minute commerical about all the crap on NBC, TNT and some crappy music service.

I like the 20 min. of ads... My GF is always running late so it works out.

[Blaine23]

I think some of you guys are slightly missing what I was trying to convey with this thread.

Of course I hate the ad... I really don't care for anything that doesn't have a bit of the old in-out in-out and a little untra-violence. The iritating part relates to the fact that they show me this crap when I am IN THE MOVIE... I ALREADY PAID!

They should show this crap on tv, they would have a better chance of having more kids who download movies see it.

I see your point... but you brought up PSA's and movie ads, and thus, you must pay the price of hearing all the bitching.

Seriously... has anyone ever seen a Public Service Announcement that informed you of an issue that you weren't aware of and consequently influenced your opinion enough so that you'd actually get involved?

Even if that has happened once or twice, how many times has a PSA strictly been a lame "I already know this" time-waster that is essentially the entertainment industry's way of trying to seem as though it has any conscience whatsoever?

In between hawking you Coke and McDonald's, I'll take a moment to tell you that doing crack while pregnant is bad, mmkay?

I'm just glad that I have never, ever had to sit though this "the 20" crap... that is just pure evil.

[Agent ONE]

The only thing I have been convinced of when seeing the ads in the front of a movie is there are some other movies coming out that I also want to see. Sometimes the trailers are better than the movie I am there to see.

[Capt Hungry]

Many months ago I was pissed at seeing commericals in the theather too and did a little research.  Some guy brought a lawsuit against it.  His claim (if I can remember) was that the theather said the movie would start a "blank" o'clock but the commericals actually made the movie start at a later time.  Some theathers are now using this thing called "the 20".  A 20 minute commerical about all the crap on NBC, TNT and some crappy music service.

I'm with Roy on this one. I absolutely DETEST being subjected to commercials in the movie theatre.

WTF is that about??????

If I am paying $8 to see a movie, that's all I want to see.

It's bad enough that various network channels subject a viewing audience to non-stop commercials. Some movies will run for about 10 minutes, then we get 15 minutes of commercials. While I am ranting, what about seeing the same flippin commercials all through a show or movie?????

Are you listening Sci-Fi channel!!??!?!?! Even the networks do this. No wonder why I don't really watch much TV anymore.

Edited March 9, 2004 by Capt Hungry

[the white drew carey]

AgentONE- Those PSA's are directly targetted to the man in the theater who's holding up his digital camera in order to film and pirate the movie.

After seeing the ad, he hangs his head in shame and turns of his camera. Because he now knows he was about to steal not only from Ben Affleck and Pauly Shore, but from Manny, stuntman #2 in The Banger Sisters, and Brenda, Makeup Assistant for Holes.

[Blaine23]

AgentONE- Those PSA's are directly targetted to the man in the theater who's holding up his digital camera in order to film and pirate the movie.

After seeing the ad, he hangs his head in shame and turns of his camera. Because he now knows he was about to steal not only from Ben Affleck and Pauly Shore, but from Manny, stuntman #2 in The Banger Sisters, and Brenda, Makeup Assistant for Holes.

Yes, I am this bored today.

Full Cast and Crew for

Holes (2003)

Gilbert A. Mosko ....  assistant makeup artist 

Poor Gilbert A. Mosko... not only do the pirates steal the food from your babies' mouths... but people call you Brenda.

[Agent ONE]

LOL

[ewilen]

It's bad enough that various network channels subject a viewing audience to non-stop commercials. Some movies will run for about 10 minutes, then we get 15 minutes of commercials. While I am ranting, what about seeing the same flippin commercials all through a show or movie?????

Are you listening Sci-Fi channel!!??!?!?! Even the networks do this. No wonder why I don't really watch much TV anymore.

Get a TiVo or a ReplayTV. Or get the hardware/software to do the same thing with your computer.

Everyone who watches TV should have something like that.

Either that or cancel your cable subscription and use the money freed up to rent DVDs and buy box sets of your favorite shows.

[ewilen]

The only thing I have been convinced of when seeing the ads in the front of a movie is there are some other movies coming out that I also want to see. Sometimes the trailers are better than the movie I am there to see.

And sometimes the trailers tell the ENTIRE story of the movie they're advertising. Thus saving me the trouble of ever watching the piece of dreck.

[Agent ONE]

The only thing I have been convinced of when seeing the ads in the front of a movie is there are some other movies coming out that I also want to see.  Sometimes the trailers are better than the movie I am there to see.

And sometimes the trailers tell the ENTIRE story of the movie they're advertising. Thus saving me the trouble of ever watching the piece of dreck.

Yep thats happened to me too... How about The Perfect Storm, or Waterworld.

[Abombz!!]

The only thing I have been convinced of when seeing the ads in the front of a movie is there are some other movies coming out that I also want to see.  Sometimes the trailers are better than the movie I am there to see.

And sometimes the trailers tell the ENTIRE story of the movie they're advertising. Thus saving me the trouble of ever watching the piece of dreck.

Looks at it this way.... at least you don't live in a piece of crap country were the footage they show doesn't match what the narrator is saying.

And the movie they are previewing isn't going to be release for another 4 or so years. I swear.... for almost 7 years, every single movie they showed here had the trailer to Scream 2. Took them 7 years to release that crap here.

[Jawjaw]

LOL - I never thought about that but it is stupid to guilt trip people who are actually paying for the movie. For some reason, that doesn't bother me as much as the dam commercials. If the movie industry is still losing money after charging me $9 a seat, an arm and a leg for some snacks and a drink, and whatever they get from advertising, then there are bigger problems than people downloading.

[EXO]

LOL - I never thought about that but it is stupid to guilt trip people who are actually paying for the movie.  For some reason, that doesn't bother me as much as the dam commercials.  If the movie industry is still losing money after charging me $9 a seat, an arm and a leg for some snacks and a drink, and whatever they get from advertising, then there are bigger problems than people downloading.

The movie industry doesn't get any money from the drinks and snacks. Only the theatres do. The movie company gets the all the money for the ticket sales for the first one or two weeks and then the theatre chain gets a cut of the admission fee after that. The percentage of the theatre's cut goes up as the weeks go by. That's why the movie studios push the opening weekend so much, to make sure they get a majority of the money being made and that's why the theatres charge so much for food and drinks.

So here's another guilt trip...when you sneak in food you're actually stealing from the employees that work at the theatre you go to...

Edited March 10, 2004 by >EXO<

[JB0]

LOL - I never thought about that but it is stupid to guilt trip people who are actually paying for the movie.  For some reason, that doesn't bother me as much as the dam commercials.  If the movie industry is still losing money after charging me $9 a seat, an arm and a leg for some snacks and a drink, and whatever they get from advertising, then there are bigger problems than people downloading.

The movie industry doesn't get any money from the drinks and snacks. Only the theatres do. The movie company gets the all the money for the ticket sales for the first one or two weeks and then the theatre chain gets a cut of the admission fee after that. The percentage of the theatre's cut goes up as the weeks go by. That's why the movie studios push the opening weekend so much, to make sure they get a majority of the money being made and that's why the theatres charge so much for food and drinks.

So here's another guilt trip...when you sneak in food you're actually stealing from the employees that work at the theatre you go to...

That's the only reason I ever buy drinks at all.

The prices are completely absurd.

[Noriko Takaya]

But having the grunts whine at me that people are stealing movies that I paid to see is ridiculous.

Just a bit OT for the moment: First off, do not ever use the term "grunt" unless you are refreing to an infantryman. We grunts, Marine and Army alike, hold that name to be sacred above anything else. Otherwise, I may just have to pay you a visit.

As for the commercials and public service ads they are now showing in movies, it was only a matter of time. It pisses me off to no end also, seeing as how I have to sit through these things before a movie I have paid for begins. And quite a few of these things I have definitely seen on television.

I agree with Agent One. Stop playing the commercials before my movie starts. If I want to watch those things, I'll just stay home.

What's next, Levi's or Burger King commercials on the DVD menus that play before you can even watch the movie?

Takaya

[Mislovrit]

But having the

What's next, Levi's or Burger King commercials on the DVD menus that play before you can even watch the movie?

Quiet you're giving them more ideas to screw the paying audience.

[JB0]

But having the

What's next, Levi's or Burger King commercials on the DVD menus that play before you can even watch the movie?

Quiet you're giving them more ideas to screw the paying audience.

It's too late. Some companies already put unskippable movie trailers on theirs.

My sister's Bruce Almighty disk is like that.

[Agent ONE]

Woah guys... I like the support but keep in mind we live in a material world and I am a material... uh guy.

Seriously I like advertising, hell, I work in the marketing industry. MY iritation has to do just with preachin to me in the movie theatre about ripping off the movie industry when I obviously don't rip off the industry... I paid to see the movie.

[The Shade]

Woah guys... I like the support but keep in mind we live in a material world and I am a material... uh guy.

D@mn you AO, you put that song in my head, and now it's going to be stuck there all day long.

I do agree with what you're talking about. What I would like to know is this: when do the pirates steal the movies? Do they do it when they're seated with the general audience, or like someone wrote earlier, do they "borrow" the film reel and make the copy in private? If it's the first answer, why don't the ushers stop them? If it's the second answer, then we have some really crooked theater employees out there.

[pfunk]

Woah guys... I like the support but keep in mind we live in a material world and I am a material... uh guy.

Seriously I like advertising, hell, I work in the marketing industry. MY iritation has to do just with preachin to me in the movie theatre about ripping off the movie industry when I obviously don't rip off the industry... I paid to see the movie.

wow, I havent been to the movies in a while. My view,,,,which is deranged sometimes is,,,OK, I will start down loading flicks cause your ussing my hard earned money to "preach" how I should conduct myself in the privacy of my own home,,, once I see it, thats what Im going to do.

Also they have a new law in effect in my POS state that requires you too get plates for your vehical even if its not on the road, or else they charge you late fees every 6 months (great for those hot rodders working on restoring thier cars),, not to mention i ussed to register my trailers just for the summer time and now they want the full year price,,,ALSO the ticket for no registration is $250 non refundable, the counties going comunist,,,,sorry to change the subject, i couldnt help myself

[ZorClone]

it's so ironic that I was just talking with friends about this very topic over the weekend.. I've been complaining about this crap for weeks now. I spoke of it with exactly the same term, "preaching to the choir"

I mean, come on! I'm there in the theater already! I paid $8 to see the movie, but I will probably download a DVD rip of it too.. then probably buy the DVD.

notice I said DVD rip.. not screener. I can't even sit and watch a movie that's been filmed in a theater on a camcorder, it's just too crappy..

Edited March 11, 2004 by ZorClone